EU May Stop Mobile Operators Charging Per Minute
BRUSSELS -(Dow Jones)- The European Commission said Thursday said it may legislate further to bring down what it says is overcharging by European mobile phone operators.
The commission, European Union's executive arm, is concerned that many mobile operators charge for voice calls by the minute rather than seconds resulting in higher bills for the consumers.
"We see that consumers are charged more because in some cases operators are charging a call of one minute two seconds for two minutes," The commission's spokesman for telecommunications Martin Selmayr said.
Consumers pay on average 24% more than the minutes they actually use and 19% for calls received, Selmayr added.
Meanwhile as part of its wider rules on mobile roaming, the prices of making and receiving calls while abroad are coming down again from the beginning of September, the commission said.
The price ceiling for making calls while abroad will be cut to EUR0.46 a minute from EUR0.49/minute previously and the price ceiling for receiving calls abroad is cut to EUR0.22/minute from EUR0.24/minute.
-By Peppi Kiviniemi, Dow Jones Newswires; +3227411483; peppi.kiviniemi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
Posted to the site on 28th August 2008
